Sir Flannigan
by TheLovelyRusher
Summary: Carlos loses his pet fish, and Logan almost loses Carlos as a friend.


**A/N So, this is the story of a little fish named Sir Flannigan. He first appeared in my story Breathless (you don't have to read that to understand it, but I have no objections if you would like to read it) and viswisk 13 came up with the awesome idea of writing a cute one shot about it. So thanks viswisk, Carlos and I will like to dedicate this to you!**

"Hi fishy, fishy! Blub-blub-blub!" 16 year old Carlos Garcia giggled and tapped on a small glass fishbowl. Mrs. Knight had just brought home a brand new goldfish she had promised to buy him after the poor kid suffered a terrifying asthma attack, and he was now trying to bond with the cute little orange fish.

"Hey Carlitos- is that a fish?" James asked, walking into his and Carlos' shared bedroom.

"Yep! Mama Knight bought it for me as a present. Isn't he cute?" Carlos held out the fishbowl proudly for his best friend to see the orange fish swim back and forth happily above pink and blue pebbles.

"Aw, what's his name?" James asked, sitting next to the enthusiastic Latino.

"Um, I'm not sure yet." Carlos squinted at the fish and thought hard. "Bubbles?"

"No, too weird," James said.

"Goldie?"

"Too common."

"Hmm, how about fishy?"

"Really, Carlos? He needs something exotic, like-"

"Sir Flannigan!" Carlos exclaimed. James stared at him.

"Sir Flannigan?"

"Yep! He's Irish! Doesn't he look Irish?" Carlos asked, and James studied the tiny fish.

"You're right, he does!" James agreed. "Sir Flannigan, Prince Of The Emerald Isles and Carlos' fishbowl!"

"Boys, dinner!" Mrs. Knight called up to the second floor balcony.

"Ooh! It's time for Sir Flannigan to meet the family!" Carlos said. He carefully slid down swirly, cradling his new pet carefully, and set it down next to his plate at the dinner table.

"What is that?" Kendall asked, wrinkling his nose and starring at the bowl of water.

"Guys, this is Sir Flannigan! Sir Flannigan, meet my family," Carlos announced.

"When'd you get it?" Kendall asked.

"Mama Knight bought it for me. Do you like him?"

Kendall raised a bushy eyebrow. "Yeah, I kinda do. Mom, can I have a fish?"

"Maybe later," Mrs. Knight said from where she was taking dinner out of the oven.

"Why is his name Sir Flannigan?" Logan asked, tapping the fishbowl curiously.

"He's Irish," Carlos said simply, and James nodded eagerly.

"That makes no sense," Logan said. "So this is your fish, Carlos?"

"Yep."

"Hmm. Poor little guy. I hope he makes it through the week," Logan said under his breath. He could not figure out why anyone would put Carlos in charge of a living, breathing thing.

"What was that?" Carlos asked.

"Nothing," Logan said quickly.

"Dinner is served!" Mrs. Knight said, setting down a couple trays of brown and crispy food that she only let the boys eat once or twice and week.

"Fishstick Friday!" James, Logan, and Kendall all exclaimed simultaneously, but Carlos let out the loudest shriek ever emitted from a teenage boy.

"Due, what's wrong?" James asked as the entire table gaped at the Latino.

"It's fish!" Carlos cried.

"Yeah, so- Ohh," Kendall said as realization dawned on him. Carlos put his hand over the side of the fishbowl as if shielding Sir. Flannigan's eyes from the horrific sight.

"That could be Sir Flannigan's little brother! Don't look Flanny!" With that, Carlos raced back up swirly to hide in his room with his fish.

"Well. This is going to be interesting," Logan said with a groan.

Surprisingly, Sir Flannigan survived longer than the week Logan had predicted. He lived through 3 weeks and 4 days to be exact, and Carlos took amazingly good care of his pet. He kept it on it's feeding schedule, cleaned it's tank all the time, and not to mention gave it lots of love.

Maybe too much love. Carlos was inseparable with the tiny fish. Literally. Logan had no idea why his younger friend was so attached to the fish but everywhere Carlos went, the fishbowl was there, too. Sir Flannigan sat in the corner of the soundbooth during rehearsals. At the park, Carlos would sit him on the picnic tables and feed him fish pellets while he ate his corndogs, and than he would hold onto the bowl tightly as he swung on the swings or slid down the slide. At the grocery store, Sir Flannigan rode in the the cart. When the guys would all go to Happy Burger, Carlos would sit him in the booth and receive odd looks from the waitress.

Everywhere Logan, Carlos and the guy would go, there was Sir Flannigan, staring at them with those beady eyes. It was creepy. And quite frankly, Logan was starting to get jealous of the little creature.

"Hey Carlos, Mr. Bitters made fun of my new reading glasses today so I'm going to nail with him super soakers!" Logan said one afternoon. Carlos could never pass up a water gun fight. He sat down on the couch next to Carlos and held out a gun. "I need your help!"

"I can't, I'm teaching Flanny how to roll over," Carlos said without even looking at Logan. He swirled his finger in the water and Sir Flannigan swam around, chasing Carlos' finger and nibbling at it.

Logan pouted. "You can't teach a fish how to do tricks."

"Yes, I can!" Carlos said enthusiastically, not recognizing the hurt in Logan's voice.

"Come on Carlos. We've barely hung out at all the past 3 weeks."

"What are you talking about? We saw a movie yesterday," Carlos said distractedly. "Come on Flanny, roll over buddy!"

Logan sighed. "Yeah, but you held Sir Flannigan the entire time!"

"I can't help it that he's scared of the dark, Logan."

That's it. Logan had it with that ugly, best-friend stealing fish. "Carlos! It's a fish! It's not scared of the dark, it can't do tricks, it doesn't even know who you are because it has the memory of 5 seconds. It's just a stupid little fish! I wish he would just die already."

Carlos' lower lip quivered, and Logan sighed, expecting the Latino to burst into tears. But instead, Carlos got up, furrowed his brow, and raised his voice. "You may call me stupid all the time, but don't you ever call Sir Flannigan stupid! He doesn't deserve it. Come on Flanny, I know when we're not wanted." Carlos stormed off, and Logan felt like the biggest douche on the planet. Needless to say, Carlos avoided Logan like he was acid rain the rest of the day.

"Carlitos come one, you know I didn't mean it! I'm sorry!" Logan pounded on Carlos' door for the tenth time that night. It was nearly midnight and Logan would not give up until he could apologize to Carlos.

"Flanny and I are going to sleep!" Carlos yelled.

"Dude, what did you do to him?" James asked Logan. He was dressed in his boxers and sleep shirt and hewanted in his room that he shared with Carlos.

"I sorta wished death upon his fish," Logan squeaked guiltily.

"You what? How could you?"

"I don't know, James! It just sort of blurted out."

"Well you have been acting a little jealous," James said.

"What? Jealous of a fish? No!" Logan said, trying to laugh it off, but it was obvious he was lying.

"Sure, Logan. Carlos, it's James! Let me in!"

"K!" Carlos said. Logan heard the lock click and the door opened wide enough so he could pull James in. Logan tried to squeeze in but Carlos slammed the door in Logan's face. Logan sighed and retreated in his room.

The next morning Logan, James, and Kendall were seated at the kitchen table eating their fruit loos when Carlos bounded into the room.

"James, Kendall! Fanny learned a new trick! Look, he can float!"

Logan nearly choked on his fruit loops. Oh no. Please no. Even Logan's luck wasn't _that_ bad.

"Um, Carlos-" Logan started.

"Logan, we all know you're a skeptic, whatever," Carlos said. 'But he really can float!" Carlos set the bowl on the table. Kendall and James wrinkled their noses and shared sympathetic looks. Sir Flannigan was indeed floating, on his side at the top of the fishbowl. Carlos poked his little body, and the fish pooped right back up to the surface. Carlos giggled. He liked this trick. Kendall cringed.

"Um, Carlos, buddy…" Kendall tried to break the bad news, than faltered. Carlos honestly believed the fish was floating on purpose.

"Carlos, you might want to sit down," Logan said, and Carlos started catching on to his friend's somber tones.

"No, I can stand," Carlos said, holding his fishbowl tightly.

"Flanny isn't playing a trick," Kendall continued gently. "Sir Flannigan is in a better place now. He's dead."

Carlos looked at James, Kendall, and Logan with sad, wet eyes, hoping they were just playing a mean joke. But he could tell they were serious. Finally, his eyes locked with Logan's, his expression turning angry.

"Logan, how could you?" Carlos said in a heartbreakingly small voice, than ran up to his bedroom. The guys immediately heard loud wails coming from Carlos' room and James and Kendall whipped their heads around to stare at Logan accusingly.

"What? I didn't touch the fish!" Logan said, and James nodded. He and Kendall both knew that Logan didn't have the heart to kill an ant. It was purely coincidental.

"What are we going to do?" James asked.

"Let's just leave him alone for a couple hours, than give Sir Flannigan a fishy funeral," Kendall said. Logan buried his face in his hands and groaned.

"I feel so bad!"

"Careful what you wish for," James said.

Kendall, James and Logan spent the rest of the morning creating a little shoebox-coffin for Sir Flannigan, and James brought it up to Carlos.

"Hey little buddy. How you feeling?" James asked, sitting next to Carlos, who sniffled.

"I'm sad, James."

"I know. But stuff like this happens and-oof-ok-" James' words were cut off by Carlos slamming into him in a bone crushing hug and sobbing loudly. "Ssh, Carlos, it's ok."

"I miss my fishy!" Carlos wailed.

"I know," James said. "I'm sorry. He was a great fish, but it was his time. Kendall and Logan are waiting downstairs for us, so we can have a proper burial for Sir Flannigan. You ready?"

Carlos nodded, and James put Sir Flannigan into the little coffin. Carlos refused to make eye contact with Logan as they walked to Palmwoods Park and dug a hole in a secluded part of the park.

"He was a good little fish," Kendall said when they finished burying him. Carlos stifled his sobs and rested his head on Kendall's shoulder. "I'll never forget those beady eyes, or the way he swam, back and forth, everyday. We'll miss him, but now he's swimming with all his ghost fish friends in fishy heaven pond. Thanks for being such a good friend to our Carlitos. Be strong, Carlos, be strong." Kendall hugged Carlos, and Logan and James grinned at Kendall's attempt to make Carlos feel better. The whole thing was silly to them, but Carlos was obviously upset and it met a lot to him.

"Carlos, would oyu like to say a few words?" Kendall asked, and Carlos stepped forward.

"I'll never forget you, Sir Flannigan. We had a lot of good times together. You were always there for me and loved me and I loved you too. I'm sorry you died, Flanny. I should've taken better care of you-" Carlos' words caught in his throat.

"Carlos, buddy, it's ok," Kendall said, putting his hand on Carlos' shoulder, but the crying Latino shrugged him off.

"It's not. I just want to be alone," Carlos said, taking off in a run. Kendall wanted to chase after him, but Logan stopped him.

"Just let him be. I'll talk to him," Logan said. "It's my fault he's so upset." Logan let Carlos alone for a little bit, than went looking for him. But Carlos was a tough bugger to find. It was a cold and misty day, so Logan chose to look indoors first for Carlos. He checked the convenience store just in case he was there buying fruit smackers, he checked Happy Burger, the lobby of the palm woods, even the pool because Carlos would be the only one insane enough to swim in this weather, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Guys, where could Carlos be?" Logan asked, walking into their apartment. It was evening now and Logan was actually getting worried.

"You still haven't found him?" Kendall asked, knowing Carlos on his own for an extended period of time was never a good thing.

"Nope. Where could he be?" Logan asked.

"Beats me," Kendall said.

Logan went to his room to call any of Carlos' friends and even Kelly if they have seen Carlos but each answer was "no". Logan sighed, thinking hard, than suddenly remembered something. Carlos almost never got upset, but the last time he did was when he lost a hockey game due to a poor move. The whole team was pissed at him. Logan spent hours trying to find him until he finally found him crying on the school rooftop.

Logan jumped to his feet, grabbed a blanket, and ran up to the rooftop, and there was Carlos, sitting with his knees up to his chest and staring up at the stars.

"Carlos... There you are. You scared me, bro." Logan came over and sat next to the small Latino, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders. His hair and skin was damp because of the mist and he shivered slightly. "You ok, Carlos?"

Carlos shrugged, but didn't answer. He was no longer crying but he looked visibly upset.

"I'm really sorry about your fish. I can't believe he died. I never wanted him to die, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know that," Carlos said.

"I could buy you a new fish," Logan offered. "If that would make you feel better?"

"It wouldn't," Carlos said bitterly. "He wouldn't be Sir Flannigan."

"Well what can I do to make you feel better? I'm sorry Carlos, I really am." Logan had to try his best to refrain from saying "_It was just a fish, Carlos. Get over it!"_

"Nothing, Logan. You can't do anything ok? It's over. I forgive you. I just want to be alone right now, ok?"

Logan thought about leaving, than decided against it. Something was seriously bothering Carlos, he could tell. "No, I'm not leaving you. Not until you tell me what's wrong."

Carlos huffed. "Why? It's not like you care."

"Carlos, of course I care. I wouldn't be up here if I didn't care. Now what's this about?"

Carlos dropped his head to his chest and sniffled. He hated being put on the spot like this, but he really did want to tell Logan what was bothering him. "I just miss Flanny so much because he loved me. I know you said he has a 5 second memory but he really did love me, Logan."

Logan sighed. "Of course he loved you Carlos. I didn't mean a word I said when I yelled at you."

"Yeah, I know. You never mean any of that mean stuff you say to me all the time, but you still say it, don't you?"

Logan sighed. He knew this was about more than just a fish. "What do you mean, Carlos?"

Carlos looked at Logan with those hurt, chocolate eyes. "I loved Flanny because he didn't judge me all the time. He never called me, or my ideas stupid, or tried to be better than me, or yell at me. He just accepted me. I could tell him anything and not have to worry about him laughing at me."

Logan scratched the back of his neck. "And I guess I do all that stuff, huh?"

"Yeah, you do. I try so hard to impress you yet you still call me stupid all the time. It's like you don't even want to be my friend, you just want to boss me around and take away the things that I love. You tried to take my helmet away, you wished my fish away. It's like you don't want me to happy."

"Carlos, that's not true at all. I was... I was jealous. That's why I say all those things. I'm jealous that you can have so much fun and never be bored and make up such crazy inventions and games. All I can think of is mathematic formulas. And when you got that fish, you spent every waking moment of your time with him and never even acknowledged me. So yeah, I never thought I'd admit it but I was jealous that you found a friend you liked more than me. I just missed you."

"Oh. You... Missed me?" Carlos asked.

"Well, yeah. You're my little buddy, ok?"

Carlos grinned. Nobody had ever said they missed him before. "Well, I'm sorry too-"

"No, you have no reason to be sorry, bro. I'm sorry. I treat you like crap but I promise that's going to change. I'm sorry I ever made you feel this way. You're the exact opposite of stupid, ok? You make life so much brighter and I just want to be bros again."

Carlos nodded. "I'd like that," Carlos said, giving Logan a fist pump. Than, he returned his gaze to the stars. "Logie?"

"Yeah, Carlitos?"

"Do you really think Flanny is in a fishy heaven?"

"Of course I do. See, way beyond those stars over there? That's where fishy heaven is."

Carlos giggled and rested his head on Logan's shoulder, and Logan drapped an arm around his younger friend. "What do you think they do in fishy heaven?"

"Well, I bet they swim. A lot."

"Do you think it's anything like 'The Little Mermaid'?"

"I bet it's exactly like 'The Little Mermaid'."

"Good," Carlos sai softly,, and Logan knew he was falling asleep. "Goodbye, Flanny."

"Goodbye, Flanny," Logan whispered.

**A/N Haha that was fun. Hope you enjoyed it everyone. I noticed that Logan is kind of mean and controlling towards Carlos so I thought this would be good to write, and Carlos+pets=adorable. Review please? Have a great weekend!**


End file.
